


May time be on our side

by The_silent_smile



Series: Every day we crumble and build ourselves up again - Marvel one-shots [23]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, BAMF Edwin Jarvis, BAMF Steve Rogers, BAMF Tony Stark, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Fluff, Gen, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Human Jarvis (Iron Man movies), Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Light Angst, Light-Hearted, Maria Stark's Good Parenting, Parent Tony Stark, Period-Typical Homophobia, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Protective Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers Is a Good Bro, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Timeline Shenanigans, Tony Feels, Tony Has Issues, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro, Tony Stark-centric, alcoholic howard stark, asshole howard stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2020-05-15 14:00:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19297195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_silent_smile/pseuds/The_silent_smile
Summary: "Howard... Potts?""Howard Potts, that's what I said.""You saw your father, a man who can absolutely not know that you're from the future or his son and who you already look similar too, and told him that you were named Howard Potts?""You know, for someone that made up the wonderful name Roger Stevens, you have an awful lot to say, big guy."-Or-Howard Potts and Roger Stevens running around and fucking shit up in the 70s.





	May time be on our side

TRIGGER WARNING: Strong language, mention of alcohol/ getting drunk, homophobia (f-slur), crying.  
^Even though all of that is in the fic, it's actually quite a fun one.

THIS CONTAINS ENDGAME SPOILERS though none are major.

Howard Potts and Roger Stevens running around and fucking shit up in the 70s.

-

"Howard... Potts?"  
"Howard Potts, that's what I said."  
"You saw your father, a man who can absolutely not know that you're from the future or his son and who you already look similar too, and told him that you were named Howard Potts?"  
"You know, for someone that made up the wonderful name Roger Stevens, you have an awful lot to say, big guy."

Steve just grinned at him, the hat he had been wearing the entire time they were in the military base now in his hands as he fumbled around with it, apparently nervous that somebody would walk in on them even though Tony had triple-locked the door to Howard's office (why did the man have an office here? He wasn't even here that often!)

"At least I didn't say I had the same name as the man standing in front of me."  
"Well, you try talking to your shitty dad when the man is standing right in front of you and is blabbering on about how his wife is pregnant with you! You know how fucking weird it is to hear him talk like that?"  
"Like he's excited to have a kid?"  
"Like he cares Rogers!"

Steve was silent, the grin slipping off his face and being replaced by a troubled expression.  
Tony had told him about how neglective Howard had been as a father. Had told him enough to stop him from praising the man's name whenever he was brought up.

The slight tremor Tony's voice had had at the last sentence and the deeply sad glint in his eyes quickly disappeared again as the man straightened his back, a grin now plastered on his face again.

Steve decided that- after looking for any sign of the smile being faked- Tony was genuinely, or at least partly so, excited about whatever he was about to say.

"Speaking of the old man... We can technically take all the time we need, right?"  
"Tony..."  
"So we could, in theory, hop by Howard's place real quick and give him a scare, right?"  
"Tony, we can't just-"  
"He doesn't know I'm me, but you popping in would be so fucking funny."  
"I don't want to mess up their timeline by showing up."  
"You won't, you won't. We can just hop by and try to tell him that your Roger Stevens."  
"Tony, this could damage the-"  
"Bullshit Rogers. Come on! Where's your fun side at?"  
"I really don't-"

 

"We could also if you're too much of a wimp to go face Howard for a good laugh, have some fun in town. I've never consciously been in the 70s and if I'm correct you were still napping it up under the ice back then- or back now- so it could hardly do any harm to just exploring a bit!"

Steve rolled his eyes, giving his partner a fond look as he tried to wipe the grin off his face.  
Tony really was too excited about this for his own good.

And at first, Steve wasn't going to cave. Exploring or just spending any more time in this time and this timeline was unnecessarily dangerous and would either heighten their chances at being caught or disturb the timeline by somebody recognising Steve.  
But somehow, Tony won him over.

Maybe it was because, in the back of his mind, Steve realised that he hadn't seen the mechanic be excited or even remotely hyped for something since the day that he had pulled up in front of the compound in his ridiculously expensive car and offered to help them out with the time travel gig.  
And, as Steve so desperately wanted to see him happy, he was won over quite easily, Tony punching a fist in the air and hissing a soft 'yes!' in victory before grabbing Steve by the hand and pulling him out of the room after unlocking the door again.

Tony pulled him along the busy hallways of the military base, Steve hastily putting on his had again and bowing his head, trying to make sure that nobody recognized him.  
God, what he wouldn't give to be in Tony's shoes right now; not even born yet and not a fucking national hero, known by every person ever, especially in the military.

The problems (Tony would say the fun) started when they got out of the building and Tony tried to climb into one of the jeeps.

"You can't just take one of the jeeps, Tony! This is the property of the military, we can't steal from them!"  
"It's not stealing cause I'm letting someone bring it back to them as soon as we're where we want to be. Besides, nobody here should give a shit about us taki-"  
"Sir? May I ask what you think you are doing?"

A harsh voice made them both freeze, Steve jumping to attention as he realised this must be a higher up, though not facing them or turning around even slightly as he was afraid he'd be recognised.

Tony, however, seemed to repress a grin, as if nearly jumping in delight at the situation, and turned around slowly to face the man that barked out the question, a officer, younger than him by ten years or so, who looked about ready to shoot him down if he didn't come with a clear explanation right this second.

"My apologies Corporal-" "Sergeant." "-Sergeant, sorry. My apologies, Sergeant, but I don't understand why you are trying to stop me from catching my flight back to Europe.  
You see, Captain Stevens here-" Steve groaned internally, but slowly turned around to stand at attention, hat still casting a shadow over his lower face and hopefully making it harder to see his, probably very familiar, face.

The sergeant snapped to attention as well as the mentioning of the captain, greeting him, though getting a confused look on his face after just a few seconds.

"Captain Stevens? I haven't heard that name here before. Are you here with Mr...?" "Potts, Howard Potts." "-With Mr Potts, sir?"  
"Uhh... yeah, yes. Yes, I am."  
The man nodded, stepping to the side as to signal that he was no longer holding them up and only glancing at Steve twice -which was an achievement, all things considered- before they got into the car and started it, Tony mumbling about how he wished that he had this kind of car in his collection as he slowly rolled them backwards.

"Have a safe trip, Sir. Captain."  
"Sergeant."  
"Good day!"

And with that they rolled out of the military base, Tony grinning at Steve as if he had just invented none melting ice cream while Steve just groaned, fighting off a grin himself as they rode along the sand road for a few minutes before it led them to one of asphalt and the ride was a lot less bumpy.

"That was fucking fantastic."  
"Glad you enjoyed me nearly getting found out, Mr Potts."  
"See, you say it like it's an insult, but I was actually considering taking Pepper's last name."  
"You gotta be shitting me. Tony Stark almost gave up the Stark legacy to call himself Tony Potts?"

Tony shrugged at that, keeping his eyes on the road, though Steve could still see how he was thinking about her now, about how he had to do this right. He couldn't lose her again, couldn't leave her and Morgan.  
Though when he replied, Tony's voice was still cheerful.

"We all know that I don't give two shits about the Stark name Steve. And Pepper is a lovely woman with a lovely name. It's only because she insisted that she'd be even more powerful if she wore the Stark name that we picked mine, we all know that I'm a slut for Pepper being happy and getting everything she wants in life... Also, language."  
"It's been 13 years since I said that Tony, let it go!"  
"Technically, right now it has still yet to happen so the joke isn't old yet."  
"I swear, you're going to give me a headache with all of your dumbass comments."  
"Smartass comments you mean. I'm still a genius."  
"Jesus H Christ, Tony."

-

They arrived in the city after thirty minutes of driving, the cars in this time slower and more difficult to operate, so Tony drove carefully, meaning it took them 30 minutes to drive to somewhere that would have taken a normal person in a normal car about fifteen.

"Look at how much parking space there is! This is glorious."  
"Just park the damn car Tony, I don't even know what we're doing here so let's best get this over with."  
"Aw. Already forgot what I told you we'd do? Is your old age finally catching up with you Stevie?"  
"Stark, I swear-..."

Tony cocked an eyebrow but didn't answer, simply got out of the car and opened Steve's own door with mock politeness, an overexaggerated bow as he swung it open, making Steve repress the urge to roll his eyes again as he stepped out of the car, slapping Tony's arm lightly to make him stop behaving so Tony-like.

"What are we doing here Tony? This is like the far end of town and I thought you wanted to explore, just not this far away from human civilisation.

"It's funny you say that while standing in front of probably one of the most technologically enhanced houses in the world right now."  
"Tony... this is Howard's house, isn't it?"

The mechanic now looked nervous, though he threw his hands up in defence to Steve's accusing gaze as it settled on him.

"In my defence, you didn't answer when I asked if you wanted to come over here and say hi, you avoided the question so I think that I'm allowed to make assumptions."  
"Stark, I told you it could be dangerous!"  
"And I told you to not be such a wuz and have some fun! Now come on, let's go say hi to dear old dad."

With that Tony walked around the car again and towards the gate of the, for Howard's standards, humble looking home.

He pressed a button and a long beeping sound was hear before the thing came to life and a voice called out for them to please identify themselves.

"Howard Potts and Captain Stevens, I met Mr Stark on the military base and forgot to mention one of my latest projects I thought he might be interested in. One of the people there gave me his address."  
There was a long pause at the other end of the speaker, long enough for Tony to adjust his posture and put the smile back on his face that had slipped off as soon as he had heard that voice.

Jarvis.

"Sir confirmed your meeting and said that he is highly interested- ("When J says 'highly interested' it means that Howards shrugged or probably said something like 'why not', So I think we're good Steve.") "-In your project. I shall open the gates now so if you would just step back for a moment..."

The fence swung open on itself (impressive for this time, he noted) and they stepped inside, walking the short distance through the gardens Howard probably didn't spend any time in and towards the front door, where a man stood beside it waiting for them.

"Okay, wonderboy, remember that whole thing with you not being able to show your face? If you will just put this on real quick..." He pulled out a see-through sort of sheet, the fabric of it flashing blue lines when he moved it over to Steve so the captain could take it from him.

"What-?"  
"It's a digital facemask, You'll have your own face, don't worry, I could never cover up that glorious visage-" Steve glared at him, repressing the urge to, once again, roll his eyes as he took the sheet from Tony carefully. "- It'll just make your nose and jaw facial structure slightly different. So you still look an awful lot like yourself, but it's not painfully obvious anymore that you're my dad's frozen boy toy, got it?"

Steve nodded slowly and put the mask on with instructions from Tony, the fabric- if it could even be called that- adjusted to his body temperature right away and clung to every curve of his face, making it nearly unnoticeable for the one who wore it.

"Alright, that should do..." Tony said after tapping his wristwatch a few times and Steve feeling a slight change in temperature in certain spots on the mask."  
"Wow, look at you! You look like a slightly less perfect version of America's wet dream, this should be fun!"  
"This better work Tony, I don't want to be locked up in Howard's basement because he thinks that I'm a clone or some sort of spy."  
"It'll be fine Stevens ."  
"Why did I agree on this again?"

They had reached the front door by the time that Steve muttered the complaint, the man (Jarvis, oh god it was Jarvis) just raising an eyebrow and motioning for them to follow him inside.

Tony had been in this house before; This was the one where he had always been alone because Howard had to go talk to the army and Jarvis had to drive him around. Because they were always gone for only a few days, Anna didn't come with as she decided to stay at their own mansion that Howard had given them for safekeeping. And as his mother, Maria either always went along with his father or was busy with work, that left him alone and free to explore the large house.

He knew every room and every secret of it, so when he automatically walked past Jarvis to lead the way for Steve, he had to stop himself and let the butler take the lead again, the man only staring at him strangely for a second or so before he led them to the dining room.

They followed, Steve looking around nervously while Tony only focused on the back of the man they were following, pressing down the urge to hug him and never let go because he simply couldn't afford to do so right now.  
They were here because he wanted to fuck around with his dad, not so he could have his therapeutic reunion with his butler. Focus Tony!

"Mr Stark will be arriving shortly, please feel free to help yourself to any beverages set on the table over there while you wait."

And just like that, they were alone again, Tony walking towards the kitchen as soon as the doors closed behind Jarvis and helping himself to a glass of water.

"Tony what are you doing? He said we can only have stuff from the table!"  
"Yeah well, all of the stuff on the table is alcohol and I don't drink. Besides, Howard doesn't notice that you've been in the kitchen if you put your glass in the sink. J will just assume that Howard drunk something and put the glass away again."  
"Wait. Wait, wait, wait, hold on."  
"Yeah, I know. Dear old dad isn't the brightest for someone who's a well-known genius."  
"No. That's not what I-... J? as in Jarvis, Tony? That man is called Jarvis?"

Tony froze in place for a moment before slowly starting to drink his water again, though he didn't turn around, which gave Steve enough of an answer to continue.

"I didn't know JARVIS was based on a real person."  
"Well, now you do, don't you? So what if we just let it go and-"  
"Potts!"

They both turned around at the voice, Steve tensing as soon as he noticed the man that had just entered through the door on their left, having not enough time to put his hat back on that now sat in his hands and desperately hoping that Tony's little disguise had worked.

"Mr Stark! Tony said, silence stretching for just a moment too long before he turned around and walked over to the man, shaking his hand with a grip so tight it edged on painful.

"Jarvis told me, Jarvis is the incredibly polite and incredibly British man that greeted you at the front door, he told me that you had some groovy invention you wanted to show me."

God, the 70s slang, he tried so desperately to 'be cool', Tony was going to scream.

"Yes. I do have a project I think you'll be fairly interested in Sir."  
"Oh, none of that 'Sir Mr Stark' shit Potts, we're with good people, so please, call me Howard."

Tony swallowed around the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. He'd never been allowed to call his father anything but 'father', 'Sir', or 'Mr Stark.' Only when the press was around he was suddenly allowed to call him dad.

"Of course...Howard. So I had this idea that could maybe help us to create a functioning holographic device."  
Howard seemed to be weighing the importance of the invention for a moment or two, before he nodding once and patting Tony on his shoulder, the engineer having to repress the urge to flinch away at the contact.

"Sounds like something worth looking at to me! Why don't we sit down and have a drink and you tell me how it works, your sack of muscles over there is, of course, welcome to join us at the table.

"Thank you, sir."

Those three simple words made it so that Howard looked at Steve for the first time since he'd stepped into the room.  
And the man froze, eyes wide as he drank in Steve's face, his body, his voice that Tony only now realised he hadn't changed. To Howard, the man looked and sounded so painfully familiar that he unconsciously stepped forward and lightly touched Steve's shoulder.  
It was him. Well, it wasn't because he did look slightly different and older and his hair wasn't the right length and slightly darker, but it was him.

It was him so much so that Howard seemed to be lost for words, an occurrence Tony would later state was an absolute miracle.

"W-What. Who-"  
"Captain Stevens Sir, at your service. Is everything alright?"  
"Stevens... Of course, you're a captain, you... Yeah. Yeah, everything is fine captain, take a seat."

Tony was hardly able to wipe the shit-eating grin off of his face as Steve moved to sit down next to Tony and Howard stayed where he was for another second, hand raised to were Steve's shoulder had been, eyes wide with a look of pure happiness and horror washing over his face. His emotions surely having a field day while he progressed everything at lightspeed, snapping out of his and sitting on Tony's other side before pouring himself and the two men next to him a glass of amber coloured liquid.  
Whiskey, Tony noted.

"So... you found a way to make a functioning hologram? I thought some fellas cracked the code on that in 63. "  
"They did. Though I have found a way to confine it in something as small as a watch, observe."

With that Tony tapped his watch a couple of time, now glad that he had taken one with him that looked old-school, and a hologram appeared on the small surface of it.  
Of course, he had the quality of it rendered down a bit and he had made it glitch here and there to sell the illusion that it wasn't some futuristic shit that would get them arrested right away, though Howard still stared at it as if Tony had just told him that he had found the cure to every disease ever.

"How did you manufacture it?"  
"Well to start off I-"  
"Sir, there's been a break-in at the army base."

Jarvis, the man, the myth, burst through the door before Tony even has to find a way to explain his tech to somebody that comes from the 70s, phone in hand and looking all kinds of sorry for interrupting their unofficial meeting.

"What the hell did they do now, next time, do me a solid Jarvis and tell them where they can stick it. I'm so sorry gentlemen but I have to take this one."

Howard stalked over to the phone and grabbed it from Jarvis' hand, the butler giving them both an apologetic smile before following Howard to what Tony knew was his office.

"Okay, so he's going to be in there for at least half an hour. We just gave dear old dad a shit ton of extra paperwork with the tesseract stolen and all that."  
"So we have to wait here for half an hour? Tony, don't you think it would be best if we just left? I don't want us to get found out and Howard already saw you in that room with him."  
"I mean, you can wait if you want to. I'm going to go upstairs and see if I can prevent them from painting the baby room that awful shade of olive green before it's too late. Who paints a baby room green?"

With that he was already up and moving, stepping through the door that Jarvis had been so kind to leave wide open for them and sneaking up the stairs, all the while skillfully ignoring Roger's urgent whispers of protest.

"Tony had just enough time to sneak upstairs and round the corner, before Stark walked out of his office again, the call seemingly not having taken as long as his son had expected.

Steve then inwardly cursed before giving the man a smile as he looked around the room, obviously looking for 'Mr Potts'.  
"My apologies sir, I believe Mr Potts needed to use the restroom. I'm sure he will be back shortly."

Howard nodded, eyeing Steve once again before slowly sitting down, still staring at the man.  
To say that the captain was getting uncomfortable would be an understatement.

"Has-... Uhm... Has anybody ever told you, you look like Steve Rogers?"  
Steve cringed and silently cursed Tony for bringing him here, before deciding that he might as well have some fun with this as the situation was shitty enough by itself.

"On one or two occasions sir. My name also doesn't help my case, Roger Stevens isn't exactly a name people believe to be real when Captain America would have probably used it as a bad codename."  
"Roger Stevens. Sweet baby Jesus this is nuts."  
"My apologies if I am making you uncomfortable sir, I'm quite good at that I'm afraid."  
"No, you're not Steve- Stevens, sorry. It's just that I knew Rogers quite well, have even tried to look for him for quite some time now."  
"As long as it doesn't keep you away from your family too much, I think Rogers would be glad that his friend is looking for him."

Howard nodded, the words seeming to have more impact on him than they had any other time that people had told him so, even Peggy hadn't been able to convince him that Steve would take kindly to Howard throwing everything away to look for him.  
Maybe it was because the man in front of him looked and sounded so much like him.

"I think he would be glad I kept looking yes," he said, eyeing the floor before looking at Steve again, the brown eyes staring back at him (Tony had altered his eye colour too, because the eyes would be a dead giveaway) a hint of kindness in them putting the man at ease.

"He would be, I'm sure sir. Though he would also want you to focus on your wife and Tony, to make sure your family is happy."  
"Tony?"  
"Your son?"  
"Who told you I was naming my son Tony? We haven't decided on a name yet. Though Tony does have a nice ring to it. Anthony Stark, I could work with that. I'll ask Maria what she thinks as soon as she comes down, pregnant women need an awful lot of sleep."  
"Your wife is here?"  
"Not to worry, she won't bother us I'm sure."

-

Tony was carefully walking through the hallway, avoiding every piece of wood he knew would creak and thus sneaking towards the room that he would sleep in whenever they were here.  
Once he got to the door, he slowly pushed down the handle and stepped into the room, leaving the door open slightly as he stepped into the middle of the room, slowly turning a full circle.

Everything was already there. Everything was exactly how he remembered it being. Only the crib instead of the child-bed differed.

"God damn." He whispered, suddenly getting emotional as memory after memory rushed through his mind at lightspeed.

His mother singing him to sleep after he had woken up from a nightmare, her little boy- just three at the time- staring up at her with big eyes as she sang him an old Italian song.

Hiding in the drawer where it was scary and quiet when his dad got too loud after having drunk too much of the copper liquid he always had in hand.

Piecing together a puzzle with Jarvis, the both of them wearing colourful hats the butler had made out of crafting paper, the cookies he had brought with him as he had come over to watch him because both his parents would be absent sitting between them, the plate still relatively full as the man had to convince the kid that it was alright to take as many as he wanted.

"Sir, what are you doing in here?"

He froze, eyes staring at the -sadly already olive coloured- wall, hand slightly twitching.  
If he turned around now she wouldn't be there. She was gone. She wasn't here. He had had enough alcohol-induced hallucinations to know that it wasn't possible.

But in this timeline...  
"Sir? Are you alright?"  
Oh, It definitely was her.

"Yes... Sorry m- miss Stark."  
With that, he quickly put on his shades and turned around.  
Even though he had tried to prepare himself, he still took a step back as he saw his mother, hair tied up in her go to look, elegant nightgown swirling around her lightly and hand on her belly.  
Her rather...swollen belly.  
Right. Pregnant.

"Mr Potts I assume? My husband told me that I should wait upstairs as soon as you arrived at the gates."  
She stuck out her hand, him waiting for just a second too long to grab it and return the handshake.  
He hands were warm. Soft. And so very, painfully, familiar.

"Are you sure you are alright sir? You look a bit pale..."  
"Yeah I- I just have to-... Can I feel the baby?"

Maria looked perplexed and put her arms around the belly a bit tighter, Tony realising just how odd of a question that was from a man she didn't know at all.  
Though his mother wasn't anything if not giving. So she smiled at him and nodded, ushering him to take a step closer.

After standing frozen for a solid few seconds he carefully moved closer to her and crouched down slightly, placing a hand on the bump and feeling the warm skin underneath the fabric of her gown.  
This was weird, he was acting weird and he knew full well that he was.  
But he was so close to his mother that he could feel her breathing under his touch, he could hear her heartbeat. Alive and well in a world were everything still was new and exciting with a new child on the way who she would love as much as she could even though sometimes he would feel like it wasn't a lot.

"Hey, little Tony." He whispered, feeling tears burning behind his eyes because he was so close to her and she was alive and here and warm and happy and-and-and.

He got up again, smiling at his mother reassuringly as she gave him a worried look once she noticed the teary eyes underneath the shades.

"Not the best childhood memories I assume? It's alright Sir, come here."  
He would, later on, blame her sudden affection on the fact that she was both heavily pregnant and tired. Though at that moment he didn't think twice as she opened her arms, simply letting himself be wrapped up in the hug, his head on her shoulder- he had only been able to do that for two years before she got taken away from him- and tears now freely running down his face, her thumbs making soothing circles on his back as she hugged him for a glorious ten seconds before pulling away and giving him a last pat on the shoulder before she stepped back.

"I think I will rest for a bit, have a safe trip back home and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day sir."  
"Likewise Miss. Good afternoon."

With a final smile she turned around, Tony now also in the hallway adjusting his stance and mentally putting all of his emotions back in their designated cupboards again, locking them up as he watched her go down the hallway and open a door he knew was her bedroom, repressing the urge to run after her and never let her go.

And then the door fell shut behind her and he stepped onto the first stair, making sure he looked presentable before he fully walked down them and greeted Howard again in the dining room where he was still staring at Steve as if he had seen a ghost while Steve talked about his time in the army, changing small bits and pieces to make sure the other wouldn't catch on.

"Stevens, they requested we return to the military base as fast as possible, I might be able to help them identify whoever stole from the archives."  
Howard swiffled around in his chair and looked at him in surprise, the glass in his hand filled with the liquid Tony had come to hate for destroying their family.

"Potts! Did you get lost while trying to find the bathrooms? That took way to long for you to just go and get back. That put aside, do they really not know who broke in already? I'd hate for you to have to leave so soon."

"Yeah, no they don't. Sorry, can't stay, no can do. Captain? you coming?"  
Steve gave him a weird look but got up none the less, following Tony as he walked towards the front doors- may be a bit quicker than would be considered the norm- and stopped there abruptly, waiting for either Howard or Jarvis to open it for them.

"Well, be sure to hop by at your earliest convenience then. We still got a lot to talk about Howard."  
The name was added with a grin Tony wanted to punch off of his father face, though he repressed the urge and instead forced a smirk to match his fathers, Steve looking between the two and once again marvelling at just how similar they looked.

"Will do. Howard."  
"Alright, have a wonderful afternoon! Jarvis will be sure to see you out."  
"No, that's alright, we'll manage ourselves. Adieu!"

And with that Tony practically dashed out, pulling Steve along with him and walking towards their car quickly.  
Once inside the vehicle, Tony allowed himself to freak out a bit, shaky hands grabbing the steering wheel as he leaned his head against it, Steve beside him just sitting there helplessly.

"Tony, is everything alright?"  
"Just saw my dead butler, the man that messed up my childhood, the room I grew up in and my mom while she was pregnant with a baby that will turn out to be me. So yeah Steve, everything is peachy!"  
"Shit, your mother was in the house?"  
"Yeah. Yeah, she was."

Tony allowed himself to freak out for a couple more minutes before gathering himself together again, fixing his tie and starting the car and drive them towards the main road again.

"Now that my emotional therapy is over, how about we go and get ourselves some drinks?"

-

"This isn't your brightest idea Tony."  
"I must admit, I didn't fully think this through..."

They were standing in the middle of a bar, people swarming around them, all laughing and shouting and more often than not: absolutely shitfaced. Both of them looking around a bit lost as of what to do now.

"Why exactly did you think that going to a cafe would be a good idea?"  
"Honestly Steve, you don't want to know how apeshit crazy it is inside my brain, sometimes I do things even I don't understand."  
"But your apeshit crazy brain decided that a pub, a place where the primary objective of nearly every person here is to drink beer, would be a good place for two people that don't drink to go to?"  
"I guess yeah! Otherwise, we wouldn't be here, now would we?"

Steve rolled his eyes and looked around again, miraculously spotting an empty booth and dragging Tony to take a seat in it before asking what he wanted to drink, they might as well order something while they were here.

"Ask if they have a cappuccino. If not, water is fine."  
"Want something to eat too?" "Nah, the quantum travelling will make you throw up if you eat or drink anything heavy."  
"Two water it is then."  
"The bartender is gonna think you're nuts, going to a pub and asking for water."

Steve just grinned and left Tony on his own to go get their drinks, the genius tapping away on the little hologram his watch projected, hiding it from sight under the table.  
The peace was short lived though, as a woman in some way to revealing clothes sat down not on the bench but on the table, her whole presence reeking of cheap liquor as she smiled at him in a poor way of seduction.

"I'm taken." He simply said, not moving a muscle when she didn't seem to care and moved a bit closer, the alcohol smell wrapping itself around him as if trying to suffocate him, her hand reaching out to touch his arm, though he slapped it away lightly.

She didn't seem to care or was too drunk to notice his obvious rejection.  
"I'm sure she won't mind love. We can keep it our little secret"  
"I'm sure she won't. I, however, am not that fond of you touching my friend when he already said he was taken."  
Steve stood behind the woman, two glass and a bottle with water. He sat them down on the table with a little more force than needed and stared the girl down until she got uncomfortable enough to get up from the table.

"You don't want your friend to have a good time? What, you jealous or something?"  
"I just rather spend time with him than that he went and got his marriage fucked over. Not that he'd ever do that."  
"You're way to protective man, I was just offering a fun night and you start acting like a guard dog. You're gay or something?"  
"I'm not-" "Yeah sure. You and your boyfriend have fun trying to get out of here without being beaten up. Bunch of homos."

With that, she walked away, leaving Steve to now sit next to Tony and shield him from view protectively, the same action greatly offending the mechanic.

"You know I've dealt with worse shit than people calling me gay, right? Don't have to go all mother hen on me, Rogers."  
"Yeah well, I don't know how much has changed in the 70s, but in my time, when somebody said that you'd be beaten up for them even suspecting that you're gay, they usually meant it."

"I'd like to see them try," Tony said with a laugh, leaning against the wall of the booth they were sat in while taking a sip of his water. They'd poured the stuff in a whiskey glass, poor bastard probably never had anyone sober in their bar.

As if on queue, people started pointing and lancing at them, Steve puffing up as to show that he was not to be messed with and Tony just watching them all whisper, completely relaxed with a slight smirk playing on his lips.

Maybe it was his nonchalance that set them into action. Maybe it was the fact that at least one of them was so drunk that he couldn't walk straight, but suddenly a group of- he counted six- men walked towards them with the clear intent to drag them, or at least Tony, outside and beat him up.

Ah, America at its finest truly.

"Steve?"  
"Hm?"  
The captain reply was short and mostly non-verbal, jaw clenched and seemingly preparing himself for a fight that he would easily win.

"You know how we're in a bar with mostly drunk people?"  
"Yeah."  
"And that mostly wild stories that drunk people tell are not believed by press or authorities?"|  
"Uhuh."  
"Time to go all Captain America on them maybe?" 

The last sentence was said quietly and Tony nudged Steve's leg to make him look at him before pointing down, the nanoparticles quickly flowing from his fingertips to make an awfully familiar shield.

"Tony, I really don't think."  
"Too late, they're here, here we go!"

With that the shield was kicked to now rest against Steve's legs, Tony smiling up at the men in front of them with a little too much kindness in it to make it look believable.

"Heard you guys scared an innocent lady."  
"Honestly, I think she scared us rather than the other way around. Her fashion choice is going to give me nightmares!"  
"You better watch your mouth, you fag. I don't know who the hell you think you are but round these parts, we don't take kindly to your kind."  
"But I thought Captain America taught us all to be kind and love others and all that jazz when we were kids."  
"Well, the good Captain would have probably agreed with us that faggot like you rather deserve a fist in the face and that."  
"I really think he'd have to disagree with you on that one pal."

The man seemed about two seconds away from trying to punch Tony in the face (not that he would ever get to. Tony knew some tricks of his own) when suddenly Steve seemed to have enough and Tony saw him grab the shield from underneath the table, his hat being throw of as he got up, standing at least half a head taller than the tallest guy in the group.

"I really think I would."

He tried to get as much of the 'Captain voice' in there as possible, the shield in hand and the soldier attire he was still wearing helping a bit with the 'gods righteous man' idea they were currently going for.

Only two of the men didn't immediately freeze. Instead, letting out a snort after taking one look at him, a few seconds of silence before their eyes widened and they looked again.

"C-Captain America?"  
"Why are you bothering this man, son?"  
"He- I- We thought- gay?"

Tony had to use every ounce of willpower he possessed to not burst out laughing at the scared faces of the men in front of them, instead just allowing a big grin on his face as he leaned back and sipped his water, happy to watch it all go down and see them struggle to form a compelling argument against Steve Grant fucking Rogers, the most stubborn man alive right after he himself.

"If I recall correctly this man is neither gay nor was he bothering that lady."  
"Bisexual actually."  
"Bi- Bisexual yeah. That and happily married for about five years now, so I advise you to step away and take a walk son, this doesn't have to get ugly."  
"I- y-yes Mr Captain America sir. Sorry, sir, we won't bother him anymore."  
With that the man that had been talking and apparently the leader of the group of drunks retreated, ushering them all to come with him while they glanced over their shoulder every few seconds, seemingly trying to see if it really was the good Captain himself.

"Come on Tony, let's walk a bit."  
Tony nodded and let himself be led out of the bar by Steve, the huge grin stretching even wider as he noticed how quiet the whole cafe had gotten, every single person in there staring at them while Steve opened the door for him and followed him outside, Tony not able to resist putting a hand on the small of the captains back just before they stepped out of the bar. the gasps and whispered behind him absolutely worth the uncomfortable look that Steve shot him.

"The hell was that for?" The captain said, as soon as they walked into a deserted alleyway, shaking Tony's hand off and quickly putting the hat back on as Tony finally lost control and started laughing.

"Just a little fuel on the fire cap no biggy. God, you were amazing holy shit! Their faces were golden and I swear somebody fainted in the back when you got up all golden boy with your shield. This is so going down in my history files."  
"They could've tried to hurt you, Tony..."  
"You're still upset about that? I might not look like it, but believe me, I know a bit of fighting myself. They wouldn't have gotten far big guy don't you worry."  
"But they could have-"  
"I assure you, whatever you're about to say, I wouldn't have let them. I know homophobia is all the rage in this time but I won't stand for that bullshit. Would've broken the guy's knees if he would have said even one more harmful thing."

Steve stayed silent at that, brows frowned as if he still had something he wanted to discuss while Tony tried to get himself under control again, still chuckling quietly.

"You never told me that you were bisexual."

Ah, there it was.  
Tony took another second to collect himself before facing Steve again, what he wanted to say meaning to sound teasing, though maybe he wasn't as over it as he claimed to be, as there was still an accusation undertone.

"Yeah well, you never told me that your boyfriend murdered my parents so I think I had a pass on that one."

Steve recoiled a bit as if slapped, though seemed to shake it off quite quickly as he continued with what he wanted to say as if the conflict that had torn them apart hadn't been brought up.

"When I got out of the ice it wasn't something anybody ever mentioned you know? They all seemed to think that I would be old fashioned and against same-sex couples and all that. Never once stopped to think that I might want to know that you can now walk down the street holding another man's hand with the chances of being murder reasonable small.  
Then in 2015, they announced it was actually legal I felt like I could tell the world, though Fury said it might not be a good idea. Being an American icon and all that."

Tony stared at him for a moment or two, face expressionless before rolling his eyes.  
"If this is about you being bi as well, I think the whole team is aware Steve. You don't just go and break every law ever created for a guy that's just your friend."  
Steve seemed surprised at that, which was honestly hilarious to Tony considering that it had been the most obvious topic since the winter soldier first showed up.

"Most people just jump to the conclusion that I'm gay."  
"Nah. I know you had the hots for my aunt Peggy in the war, she told me all about you whenever I asked her to do so. Don't think you could fake that kind of affection."

Steve nodded, giving Tony a half smile as he remembered how he had been so close to her just a few hours ago, only a window and some wood separating them. How he had realised that he had never been further away from her as well, unable to reach out and talk to her. To let her know that he was there, he was alive.

"You know, for a dumbass, you really are observant if you want to be."  
"That's a certified genius for you, grandpa. Now come on, I'm getting tired of the 70s, too much drama here."  
"Back to 2023 then?" Steve asked, already pressing the button, the quantum suit forming around him quickly, wrapping itself around his body, the helmet slipping over his head and cancelling out all the noise coming from the busy street just outside the alleyway.  
Tony nodded, the comms making it so that they were able to talk still without sounding like they were underwater as they stood close to each other, thumbs lingering over the buttons that would bring them to their destination.

It really had been a good idea to stay a bit longer, Tony decided, feeling as if he and Steve had finally been able to bury a bit more of the issues they had and maybe for him even work through some of the grief he still held for his parents.  
Though a whole evaluation could wait. For now, he just craved a good American cheeseburger and maybe some aspirin to help with the headache.

If their trip had gone over that easily, everyone else must've been a piece of cake.

"Yeah. Let's get us back home."


End file.
